Coaches are special people. They oversee the career of a player to make sure their progress is steep and their failures are few. There are many things that go into coaching which I will describe in this article. The biggest misconception is that a coach is someone who sees a player once a week and is directing their development. This is not a coach but rather a teacher Nothing wrong with this if you are looking for someone to give you general tips or even as a hitting partner but a coach has to do much more than that to earn the title of "coach".
Techniche is a big part of tennis and can limit a player if the correct techniques are not applied to the player by the coach. This is where it is vital that a coach is able to evaluate a player more than a couple of times a week as the coach needs to understand the technical development of the player. Seeing a player once a week will only leave the coach guessing at how a player is really hitting the ball during competition. As most of you know, a 1-on-1 session with a coach usually involves feeding and controlled rallies. This really limits the situations a player is put into and because of this how much a coach is able to observe and analyze. One note to remember is a good coach will adjust to the natural tendencies of a player. Rafa Nadal and Roger Federer are both some of the greatest players of all times but their techniques could not differ any more. An outstanding coach will understand the "window of acceptance" and make sure the player is doing positive techniques.
Tactical play might be more important than the technical side depending on which coach you talk to. It is vital for a player to understand his/her game and this is where the coach comes in. By analyzing what the player's tendencies are, the coach can build a solid game tactic that the player can rely on. Coaches might notice that their player is very defensive and likes to play that way, the coach should build a counter-puncher game but at the same time develop an offensive side to compliment his defensive skills. Coaches need to study the way a player plays points during drills, their technical inefficiencies and most importantly the matches to understand the game plan that will be applied to the player.
The Mental part of the game is probably the most dissected but the least understood. A coach is not only a mechanic with technique and an artist with tactics but should also by a psychologist for his/her player. Tennis is such a demanding sport as coaching is not allowed on court in most instances. Even when there is coaching allowed is very limited. A player's psyche can change from day to day or even point to point. Making sure that the player is equip with the correct thought process is vital to development. By teaching a player how to think when they are losing, winning, or is a tight struggle on the court a coach can guide his/her player to a successful career.
Nutrition has become an immense part of the game in the past 20 years. What to eat before, during and after matches is critical for players as they might be playing more than one match per day and a couple of tournaments in a row. A coach should have a solid base on what a player should be digesting. Also, the coach should team up with a certified nutritionist in order to better understand what the new information is out there as this can change daily. This will allow good sharing of information from nutritionist to coach to player.
Fitness along with nutrition have changed more than anything during the past 20 years of our sport. No player is able to go on the court and be successful with poor fitness. Coaches should have a good base of understanding what the best training techniques for fitness are; these include strength, cardiovascular, flexibility and footwork patterns. They should also team up and work with trainers that know the best techniques and most recent trends. A good coach will make sure that his/her player is doing off court training as there is no room for lack of fitness in our sport today. To give you an example, Djokovic/Nadal Aussie Open final; five hours and fifty-three minutes of pure fitness.
Coaches have to understand that this is a never ending job. A player's career is the most important thing to them and it should be to the coach as well. While they have to gruel it out with the physical nature of the sport, coaches have to deal with the physical, tactical, mental, nutrition, and fitness aspects. This is what makes a coach just that, a COACH!
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